Chuck Vs His Heart
by River Tam
Summary: Set during Chuck Vs. The Santa Suit 5x7 , when Chuck finally realizes that he isn't fighting to protect himself - but something much bigger than that.  Oneshot   Chara


**Chuck Vs. The Heart**

When he heard Shaw's words that Sarah was watching him beg for mercy, it was as if his whole life came to an abrupt halt. Chuck Bartowski wasn't living simply for his sake, no, he was fighting for Sarah's life. At that point, as soon as those words were uttered, he felt a reckless indifference to weather he made it out alive or not, as long as Sarah was still alive at the end of it all. He would gladly take a bullet for her.

Could she see him? Could she see the tears just before the fight started? He took a deep breath and raised his fists, training kicking in. "You're not going to survive, Shaw. I'll make sure of it."

"And what are you going to do, Bartowski? Hit me? Ouch." He came closer until finally Chuck snapped and hit him.

The fight lasted a lot longer than expected, and he probably had more bruises than he cared to count, but his number one priority was finding and saving his wife. "Sarah!" Chuck waited only long enough for the clean up crew to take Shaw into custody before racing through the Buy More. His love was on the line; his heart was on the line.

"Sarah!"

This was usually the part where everything was in slow motion. Usually, by now, someone would have rushed in with the cavalry to stop him. He was prepared for anything at this point. It was that brief interlude when he saw Morgan and Casey dragging her unconscious body up the steps.

She wouldn't know how, or when, or why, but he would be alive when she woke up – to him, that would be an amazing Christmas present – coupled with the fact that _she _would be _waking up_. As Morgan and Casey lay her down on the couch in the theater room, he rushed to her side and dropped to his knees beside her. "Sarah, baby, wake up."

She didn't move. Panic set in. What if Sarah died? Could he really live with himself knowing it should have been him who died? No, they both would have died either way. Even if he did manage to kill Shaw. He pushed her hair back behind her ears and tenderly kissed her lips. "Sarah, honey, please wake up. Please."

Ellie's entrance into the room was both forgiving and sad at the same time. She knelt beside Sarah and looked at her baby brother. "She's going to be okay, she's just suffering from mild hypothermia. Gather blankets, jackets, anything you have that would keep her warm."

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><p>Chuck sat with her for two hours while the clean up crew worked and Ellie fixed Casey's leg. She still wasn't awake, which concerned him, but she would wake up. He didn't know how, but Bartowski's always got Christmas wishes, and he didn't want anything more than he wanted his wife to wake up right now. He rest his head next to hers, holding her hands in his, idly twirling her rings. "Baby, please, it's me. It's your Chuck, wake up, please."<p>

Her blue eyes fluttered open and turned to look at her husband with a curious gaze. "What happened? Shaw said he was going to kill you…"

"We won, baby. I beat him. We're free now." He kissed her hungrily on the lips. "I love you, Sarah Bartowski."

Sarah sat up, her eyes watery slightly. "Merry Christmas, Chuck." She threw her arms around him, holding him close. He wrapped his arms protectively around her, holding her tightly, possessively, refusing to let go. "Don't ever let me go."

"I didn't plan on it," He kissed her hair, closing his eyes as he held her close. "Sarah, I love you."

"I know, I love you, too." She smiled and watched the news report with the rest of the group, her blue eyes watching her husband's family, suddenly remembering why she loved this family so much. Ellie was a woman after her own heart; using the same method she had to take down Shaw. Sarah flashed back to the first fight with him, when she took him out with a lead pipe. She smirked, turning back to Chuck. It was then that she realized he wasn't fighting for himself, he was fighting for her, for their future. She'd have to get a copy of the security footage one day, just to get the pleasure of seeing Shaw get his in the end. _That _would be a great Christmas present.

* * *

><p>I know this doesn't make up for my <em>incredible <em>lack of updates, but I'm terribly sorry to all my followers for that. I got blindsided by life and writing had to take a back burner. I might be back shortly, just expect sporadic updates from me.


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